


A Rift In Time

by PerishTwice



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-23
Updated: 2016-07-23
Packaged: 2018-07-26 08:04:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 5,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7566502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PerishTwice/pseuds/PerishTwice
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A strange woman appearing out of thin air is just the beginning of a bizarre adventure for Sammy. Paradoxes abound as she gets sucked into the Doctor's world.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Originally written for clockworkprinceherondale.tumblr.com (Sammy).

The woman was short, with shoulder length brown hair and a wicked smile. Also, Sammy was fairly certain she had just appeared out of thin air.

'Sammy, right?'

Even though she'd addressed her by name, Sammy had to check there was no one else the woman could possibly be talking to before she replied.

'Um, yeah. How did you -' '

I'm Clara.'

She said it so definitely that for a second Sammy thought the name ought to mean something to her.

'Okaay. Do I know you?'

'No. Sorry, wait a second?'

With that she began scanning the skyline. For some reason, she seemed to think that Sammy should understand everything she was saying, even when it made no sense whatsoever.

'Right, found it!' Her smile widened.

'Found... what?' It was strange; logic dictated that this Clara woman was mad, that Sammy should be running as fast as she could, and yet there was a feeling she couldn't quite shake, a feeling that said Clara was... trustworthy.

Clara pointed towards one of the buildings on the skyline.

'There. That's it.'

'That's what, exactly?'

'Where we're going.'

'I'm sorry, I wasn't aware I was going anywhere with you.'

Clara frowned at her in an expression which could almost be called confusion, but it lasted only a second before clearing.

'Oh, I didn't explain, did I?'

'Nope.'

'Sorry.' She took a deep breath. 'I need you to come with me.'

Sammy raised an eyebrow.

'It's important.'

'Is this what counts as an explanation for you?' Sammy almost laughed; the situation was beyond bizarre.

'Usually, yeah. It's just that The Doctor's better at this.'

'At what, precisely?'

'Getting people to trust him with almost no basis whatsoever.'

'Oh, and that's a good skill to have?' Sammy knew she ought to be running away, but the conversation was so odd as to be tempting.

'It can be helpful.'

'Right, well, I've made up my mind. I don't want to go anywhere with you.' 'You don't trust me.'

'Is that surprising?'

'Is this because of what I'm saying, or...' Clara paused and her hand moved almost involuntarily to the thick black watch she was wearing, 'because you saw me appear in the middle of the street?'

So Sammy hadn't invented that.

'Okay. Explain that.'

'I will.' Clara's grin appeared instantly, lighting up her face. 'If you come with me.'

Her voice was almost teasing, and against all kinds of rationales, Sammy was interested. Also, somehow, she could tell Clara meant her no harm.

'Fine. You've got yourself a deal.'

* * *

 It was just an ordinary office block. Clara punched the code in and held the door open for Sammy.

'Do you work here?' Sammy asked, walking in.

Clara laughed. 'No.' 'Then how -'

'The code?' She smiled at Sammy. 'Don't worry, I'm not a criminal.'

'I didn't say that.'

'It's not a ridiculous assumption. Much more plausible than the truth.'

'Which is?'

'Not yet.' She seemed to be enjoying this.

While they spoke, Clara lead Sammy further into the building, down corridors, up flights of stairs.

'Where are we going?'

'To find a friend of mine.'

A memory stirred from their first conversation. 'The Doctor.'

'That's the one.'

Sammy stared at Clara, trying to work out if she was joking.

'You do know that's not a name, right?'

'Yeah.' She laughed quietly, almost imperceptibly. 'Yeah, I know.'

Sammy waited, unsure if Clara was planning to elaborate. Her silence seemed to indicate not.

'So... What's he like?'

'Who?'

'The Doctor.' It was impossible to stop the sarcasm from sliding into her voice.

'The Doctor is... everything.'

Sammy just raised her eyebrows.

'Don't worry, you're about to find out exactly what I mean.'

With these words, Clara pushed open a door and lead Sammy inside. The room had probably been used for storage. At least, the was enough random crap in it to make that feasible. Everything had been thrown to the side, piling up against all the walls, except in one corner, where a police box stood. All in all, not exactly a room to be found in an office block. And in the middle of it, a man Sammy could only hope was the Doctor.

He looked round at their entrance, and jumped up gleefully from the floor.

'Clara!' He picked her up and swung her around so forcefully that Sammy had to dodge out the way.

Clara hugged him back. 'How long have you been here?'

'Two days. Imagine that, Clara. Two whole days. 48 hours, all.. next to each other. How do you people do it?'

'What did you find out?'

'Nothing.'

'What?'

'Nothing, Clara. Two days and nothing. Perfectly ordinary building, perfectly ordinary people.'

'That can't be right.'

'I spent 48 hours searching, Clara. There's nothing here.'

'There's something. We'll find it.'

'Yes. Yes. How did you do?'

Clara indicated Sammy, and suddenly she was experiencing the full force of the Doctor's attention.

'Sammy! Excellent!' He grabbed her hand and started shaking it vigorously.

'How does he know my name too?'

'Right, yes. Explanation time.' Clara moved over and detached Sammy from the Doctor. 'Do me a favour and just don't interrupt for a while, okay?'

'Fine. This better be good.'

Clara's grin broke out again. 'Oh, it is. It really is. First of all, we're time travellers.'

She paused, probably expecting Sammy to say something in spite of herself. In truth, it was hard not to. Except, bizarre as it was, time travel did explain appearing in the middle of the street and how two people she'd never met before knew her name. Sort of. She nodded, letting Clara continue.

'One day from now, everyone in this building disappears. They just vanish, no trace, between one moment and the next. We're trying to find out where they go. Only clue we have...' She trailed off, looking to the Doctor.

He reached into a pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. 'Is this,' he finished, handing it to Sammy.

Sammy unfolded it and was faced with a picture of herself. A picture that had never been taken. Or maybe, that just hadn't been taken yet. As much as she hated to admit it, this time travel explanation really did have a lot going for it.

'Turn it over,' said Clara. Across the back was scrawled Sammy's name and a date. Today's date. Sammy stared at it. This shouldn't be possible; the whole thing was starting to freak her out. She swallowed and looked back up at Clara, admitting exactly what she didn't want to.

'It's my handwriting.'

'What?'

She appeared to have shocked the Doctor. Great. Whatever this meant, it couldn't be good.

'I assumed you knew.' She heard a note of panic in her voice, one she hadn't allowed there.

Clara stepped in. 'All we know is that these people are gonna disappear, and the only thing we could find in this building was a picture of you.'

'What does that mean?

' 'It means you're important,' said the Doctor.

'How? I don't know anything about this; I've never even been here before today.'

'That doesn't make sense. I'd assumed you were somehow causally linked with the building.'

'Whatever that means, no.' Sammy backed into the corner, further away from him, from both of them. She was having trouble coping.

'This is just too weird,' she whispered to herself.

She could hear the Doctor and Clara discussing, presumably trying to make sense of the situation. She wished them luck. Trying to calm herself, she let her gaze sweep over the room. All kinds of objects littered the floor. And of course, there was the still-unexplained police box in the corner. Sammy wasn't sure she wanted to ask any more. She breathed out slowly, leaning her head back against the wall, and began an exploration of the ceiling. There wasn't much that was noteworthy, except a CCTV camera pointed straight at her. Idly she gazed into it, vaguely wondering how the Doctor had managed to remain undetected for two days in a room with CCTV.

Something about the angle of the camera seemed familiar, triggering a strange sense of déjà vu. The colour of the walls, too. A strange shade, a light grey that could almost be called white. Just like –

No. With trembling hands, Sammy turned over the picture she still held, seeking the confirmation she didn't really need.

'Oh no.'

The words must have been louder than she'd thought; she'd managed to attract Clara's attention.

'Sammy? What is it?'

Unable to form the words to describe what she'd just realised, Sammy pointed to the CCTV camera.

'The camera?'

'I looked into it, and –' Mutely, she held out the picture to Clara.

She studied it for a couple of seconds, and Sammy watched understanding dawn in her eyes.

'Oh.'

Sammy could only nod.

'Doctor?' asked Clara, turning to hand the picture back to him, 'it's just been taken. Security camera.'

For whatever reason, this made the Doctor ridiculously happy. 'Well that solves one mystery. Good! Now we just need it printed.'

'Security room,' said Clara.

'Yes! You go. Take Sammy. Wait!' He searched through his pockets, digging out a wallet which he threw to Clara. 'Go.'

'Come on Sammy.' Clara ran for the door. Whatever had just happened, it had them both excited. Sammy followed almost without thinking, infected by the atmosphere.


	2. Chapter 2

Clara strode off down the corridor, so fast that Sammy was struggling to keep up.

'How do you know where you're going?'

'I've been here before. Well, after.'

'That's really confusing, you know.'

'Right, we're here.' She stopped, brushing down her clothes and standing straighter. 'Follow my lead.'

Clara knocked on the door in front of them. It was opened by a man in his late twenties, wearing a security guard's uniform.

'Health and Safety.' Clara held up the wallet the Doctor had given her, opened. 'We're gonna need you to clear the room for a few minutes while we inspect it.'

The man stepped back inside the room and muttered something to his colleague, who promptly exited the room.

Clara flashed a smile at them. 'Thanks. Shouldn't take long.'

Once they were inside the room, Sammy let out a shaky laugh. 'How come they bought that?'

In answer, Clara tossed her the wallet. Inside was a single piece of paper.

'It's blank.'

'It's psychic paper. Shows whatever you want it to. Very useful for getting into places.'

Sammy handed it back to Clara, examining the room as she did so. It had banks of computer screens all over the walls, showing CCTV footage from around the building.

'Give me a minute.' Clara swung herself into a chair and began typing furiously. Within seconds, the footage from the room they'd just left filled the screen.

'You're good with computers.'

Clara just laughed, and began rewinding the film, searching for the shot of Sammy.

Sammy suddenly remembered her question from before. 'If there's a camera in there, how come no one's noticed the Doctor for two days?'

'He probably extended the perception filter.'

'The what?'

'There's a way of making it so that no one can see you unless they know what they're looking for. Oh, there it is.'

She'd frozen the screen on the image of Sammy, identical to the one the Doctor had kept. Clara tapped out a few more commands and the printer in the corner whizzed to life.

'You get that. I'll put this back.'

Sammy crossed the room and pulled out the printed page. There could be no doubt that this was the same picture. Any remaining concerns over the validity of their story vanished. What was happening right now was not something that could be explained by regular occurrences.  

She made her way back over to Clara, who handed her a pen.

'What's that for?'

'You said the writing on the back was yours.'

'Wait, so you're saying I should write on the back because the one you found had writing on the back?'

'Um, yeah.'

'That doesn't make any sense. None of this makes any sense. I'm not related to this, I'm only here because you found this, and apparently you only found this because you brought me here.'

'But, that would mean we only came back because we were already here. And if we were already here and it happened anyway...'

'Why are you here? Today, I mean. You could have just gone to the moment they vanished.'

'First, because this was the date on the picture... which you still haven't written.'

'Right.' Sammy scrawled out the words, then folded it and shoved it in her pocket, speaking as she did so. 'But the Doctor came back two days earlier.'

'He thought he could find out something about why they disappeared. If we knew why, we could stop it.'

'But you just said maybe you always came back... and you didn't stop it then.'

Clara looked at her, horrified. 'We need to get back to the Doctor.'

They all but ran from the room, stopping abruptly at the sight of the two security guards. Clara struggled to compose herself.

'All fine. Sorry for the inconvenience.'

They set off, running as soon as they were out of sight. Sammy narrowly avoided hitting several people on the way.

They burst back into the room.

'Doctor!' Clara stared explaining straight away, the words tumbling out of her mouth. 'We brought Sammy here. The picture was only taken because of us, but we're only here because of the picture. We've already come back, and it didn't work. We didn't save them.'

There was a pause while the Doctor worked through this information. Amazingly, he didn't seem to need Clara to repeat it. Sammy was confused and she'd been there when they discussed it.

'It's a predestination paradox,' said the Doctor. 'Our actions in our personal futures cause our current actions. We're not changing the past, we're just fulfilling it.'

'So what? We can't save them? I thought time could be re-written.'

'Only some times. If we try to re-write these events, we could nullify the whole thing. We'd remove our reason for coming back, which would in turn remove our reason for changing the events to stop us coming back. Believe me, it gets incredibly complicated. That's why these paradoxes are so dangerous. Sometimes they even –'

'Sometimes they even what? Doctor?'

He looked back at Clara with horror in his eyes. 'Sometimes they even tear rifts in the fabric of time.'

Understanding hit Sammy and Clara at the same time. 'No,' they whispered.

Clara shook her head, frantically searching for a loophole. 'If we're the cause of this, we should just leave – not allow the paradox to complete.'

'That really isn't a good idea.'

All three of them froze. None of them had spoken. The new voice came from the corner, a corner which had definitely been empty only a few moments ago. Sammy turned, trying to work out how anyone could have got in.

And then she saw her.

'Oh, no. No, no, no.'

'Sammy, calm down,' said – said her. Because it was her. Somehow, it was another Sammy.

Sammy couldn't even begin to understand. 'How?'

The other Sammy held out her wrist, showing her some kind of watch, a thick black one – the one Clara was wearing.

For some reason this triggered a response in the Doctor, and he immediately took charge.

'Okay. What've you got for us?'

'You don't leave. It is your fault, but you can still save them.'

'How?' asked Clara.

'No,' said the Doctor. 'You don't tell us that. Am I right?'

The other Sammy nodded.

'Thank you. I think that's all we need.' He gave her a little wave. 'See you around, Sammy.'

She smiled, pushed a button, and vanished.

'Ha!' The Doctor grinned, triumphant. 'Here we go then!'

'Can somebody please explain what just happened?' asked Sammy.

Clara showed her the watch-thing. 'This is a Vortex Manipulator. A kind of time travel. Evidently at some point I give it to you, and you... come back here.' She turned to the Doctor. 'Do you have a plan?'

'Yes! Well – not so much a plan, more of a... possibility.'

'Which is? You really need to explain to me how we can stop it when it's our fault.'

'We can't.' He seemed ridiculously pleased at that. 'She never said we could stop it. She said we could save them.'

'And the difference is?'

'This may be where the plan disintegrates a little bit.'

'Great. So we have everyone here getting sucked through a time rift in a day, but that's okay because we've been told that we can save them, but not how.'

Sammy had been letting the conversation wash over her; she was still recovering from seeing her future self. However, there was one point she couldn't help thinking was important.

'What exactly happens to you when you get sucked through a time rift?'

'You...' Clara paused, considering, 'come out the other side? Doctor?'

'That's what happens.'

'So these people don't just vanish,' said Sammy excitedly. 'They actually end up somewhere.'

'And if we can work out where that is then we can bring them back,' finished Clara.

'Ha!' The Doctor grabbed both of them in a tight hug. 'You are brilliant. Both of you. Now, plan. We take the TARDIS forwards one day, to the disappearance, and –'

'You leave me there.'

'Clara –'

'Doctor.' Clara smiled at him, softening her words. 'It makes sense. You leave me there, fly the TARDIS away, I get pulled through with the rest of them, tell you where we are and you come pick us up.'

'Too dangerous.'

'Well what do you suggest? Flying the TARDIS through the rift after them?'

The Doctor looked murderous. However, he clearly couldn't think of another option. 'Fine, but –' he grabbed Clara's hand and dragged her into the police box. The door shut and Sammy was left alone in the silence for a second, until Clara stuck her head out again.

'Aren't you coming?'

'In there?' The box hardly looked big enough for two.

Clara grinned, and Sammy got the feeling there was something she wasn't being told. 'Don't worry. Come on in.'

 


	3. Chapter 3

 Clara held the door open for her and Sammy cautiously stepped inside. She looked around her, shocked for an instant. There was a whole room in here.

'Well, I guess it makes sense.'

'People are usually a lot more surprised,' said Clara.

'I've just seen myself from the future.'

'Good point.'

There was a loud crashing noise as the Doctor emerged through a door across the room. A door?

'Just how large is this place?'

Clara smiled, her eyes twinkling. 'Large.'

The Doctor caught up with them, out of breath. 'Welcome to the TARDIS, Sammy. Clara, take this.' He handed her what appeared to be a large black marble.

'TARDIS?'

'She's my ship.' He spun around, arms flung out to encompass the whole room.

'She?'

'What's this?' asked Clara.

'Tracker. Most powerful one I have. No matter where you are, time or space, the TARDIS can pick it up. Don't lose it.' He pulled her in and kissed her forehead. 'Be careful, Clara.'

'Always am.'

'Right then. Off we go!' He ran over to the centre of the room, which Sammy could only describe as a console, and began fiddling with buttons and levers.

'Where are we going?' asked Sammy.

The Doctor looked straight at her, his eyes gleaming. 'One day into the future.' With that, he flicked a lever, and the whole room shook. Sammy stumbled, was thrown into some railings, and held on for dear life. Everything was chaos for the next few moments as the TARDIS flung her around, then crashed to a halt. Sammy crumpled to the floor, laughing in spite of herself.

'What just happened?' she shouted.

'Time travel,' answered Clara breathlessly.

'Is it always like that?'

Clara caught her eye and burst out laughing. 'Yes.'

'Is everyone alright?' called the Doctor.

'Brilliant,' said Sammy, pulling herself off the floor. 'Did we make it?'

'Of course we made it.' He pulled open the door and lead Sammy out into the same room they had just vacated. 'You, Sammy, have just travelled forwards one day.'

'How much time have we got?' asked Clara.

'Enough. Give me the Vortex Manipulator.'

Clara unbuckled it from her wrist and handed it to the Doctor, who started to enter something into it. When he was finished, he handed it to Sammy.

'Put it on. I've entered your coordinates. This button,' he indicated it, 'will take you there, and this one,' he pointed at another, 'brings you back to the last place you've been.'

'Here?'

'Exactly. For Clara and me, you'll only have been away a second or two.'

'So I'm going back to talk to... us?'

He nodded, gripping her arms.

'What do I say?'

'Just what you did.'

'What? Oh yeah, this has already happened once. Okay.'

'Good luck. You'll be fine.' He released her and stepped back. 

'See you soon.' Then, before she could lose her nerve, she slammed the first button.

* * *

Time travel this way was much more painful than in the TARDIS. Sammy's head was ringing, and she had to blink several times to get the room into focus. There were three other people in the room with her. She rubbed her eyes and stared at them. The Doctor, Clara, and – her. Okay. This was definitely weird.

Clara was shaking her head.

'If we're the cause of this, we should just leave – not allow the paradox to complete.'

 No.

'That really isn't a good idea.' Sammy hadn't even stopped to think about what she was saying; she just knew she had to keep their past selves on the right track. But as soon as the words were out of her mouth, she remembered that was what she had said before. She felt herself calming. She could do this.

The three of them turned towards her. She saw past Sammy see her, saw her realise just who she was.

'Oh, no. No, no, no.'

She was beginning to panic. Sammy couldn't let that happen. She needed all three of them to listen to – and remember – her message.

'Sammy, calm down.'

The other Sammy looked at her, her face blank with shock, struggling to comprehend.

'How?'

Sammy briefly considered trying to explain, but she couldn't get all the words in the right order. Instead, she simply held out the wrist with the Vortex Manipulator on. Her past self wouldn't understand, but the Doctor and Clara would. They could explain much better than her.

Luckily this move attracted the Doctor's attention, and he took over the conversation.

'Okay. What've you got for us?'

All Sammy wanted was to get the explanation out of the way as quickly as possible. 'You don't leave. It is your fault, but you can still save them.'

'How?' asked Clara.

'No,' said the Doctor. 'You don't tell us that. Am I right?'

She nodded, thankful he'd understood so quickly.

'Thank you. I think that's all we need.' he waved at her. 'See you around, Sammy.'

She smiled, relived. That had been much easier than she'd expected. Now she just had to get out of there. She looked down at the Vortex Manipulator and pressed the button that would take her back.

* * *

The Doctor caught her as she stumbled back into the present. Well, one present anyway.

'How did it go?' he asked.

'You know how it went.'

He laughed and clapped his hands together. 'She's a good one,' he said to Clara.

Sammy's head was ringing again. 'Ow. Why did that have to be me?'

'Because,' said the Doctor slowly, 'you're the one we saw come back. So you're the one we sent.'

'Another paradox.'

'One on its own isn't enough to destroy the fabric of space-time. It is a little bit stronger than that, you know.' He sounded almost offended. 'Now, the rift should open at any moment. Clara, you have the tracker?' She patted her pocket. 'Good. You... you know.'

She nodded. 'See you in a minute.'

'Right. Sammy, into the TARDIS.'

Clara's hand was still over her pocket, curled over the tracker from the outside. The sight of it triggered a memory for Sammy, and her hand went to her own pocket.

'Wait!' she called to the Doctor, already inside the TARDIS. She dug out the picture of herself that had been in her pocket all this time and dropped it on the floor. 'The final piece.'


	4. Chapter 4

Immediately, the room around her began to shake and she was almost knocked to the floor again.

'Sammy!' cried the Doctor. She could see him hanging out of the TARDIS door, hand outstretched to her. She struggled towards him, feeling the air being sucked out of the room by the rift, trying to drag her along too. She broke into a desperate run, just managing to grab the Doctor's hand as her feet left the floor. Inch by inch, he pulled her back into the TARDIS, fighting with what was now building to a tornado inside the room. Sammy's body was buffeted around; she could barely breathe, could only hold on tight to the Doctor's hand as he dragged her back.

She rocketed through the door and the Doctor slammed it. Cut off from the wind, she crashed to the floor. She lay there, winded, as the Doctor leapt over her to the console. The TARDIS began to shudder once more, and Sammy curled up in a ball until it was all over.

He stood over her and offered his hand. She took it and let him pull her to her feet.

'Are you alright?'

'Splendid. Where are we?'

'Time Vortex. We needed to get away.'

'Have you found Clara?'

'Give me a second.' He ran over to the console and brought something up on the screen. He adjusted some controls and stood with his hand poised over a lever.

'Locked on. You ready to go?'

'So ready.'

And the madness began again.

The second it was over Sammy yanked open the door and ran out. They appeared to be in some kind of field, albeit one where all the plants had long since died. The sky above them was filled with brown clouds, only occasionally broken by strands of dark red sunlight.

The people from the office were all there, lying deathly still on the ground.

'Doctor? Are they...'

He dropped down to listen to the chest of the nearest person.

'Heartbeat. They've just passed out.'

'Why?'

'There's Clara!' Immediately he set off, jumping over the other prone figures to reach her. Sammy attempted to follow, but a wave of tiredness hit her and she tripped. Stars swam in her vision as she gasped for air.

'Doctor!'

She couldn't see clearly any more, but she heard him call out: 'Get back in the TARDIS! Now!'

She stumbled towards it, arms outstretched. She felt the wood of the doors beneath her hands and pushed, falling through the door.

She must have blacked out, because she came to with the door closed and the Doctor standing at the console. Groggily she lifted her head from the floor.

'What happened?'

In answer, he swung the screen towards her. Sammy tried to read it but all she could make out were strings of numbers. She shook her head.

'The oxygen levels are too low. Humans can't survive out there for long.'

'Then we have to get the others in.'

'Can you manage?'

'I'll have to.'

The next minutes were a blur. Rushing out, lifting one of the sleepers between them, staggering back to the TARDIS, trying to suck down as much oxygen as possible, venturing out again. Repeat. Repeat. Her muscles ached, her vision was fading, but she couldn't stop. Mustn't stop.

Eventually, they were all safe inside the TARDIS, and Sammy sank to the floor with exhaustion, breathing deeply until she felt more normal. None of the others had woken up.

'Will they be okay?'

'They have to be.'

Sammy looked over at the Doctor. He was standing over Clara's body, almost protectively, and she understood the fervour in his voice. She got up and walked over to him.

'They will be.' She put an arm around his shoulders. 'We just have to get them back.'

'Yes. Back.'

'Where they came from?'

'No. Clara and I arrived three days after they vanished. If we take them back any earlier than that we could undo the entire chain of events.'

'So, four days after?'

'Four days after. And not to the office. Just in case they're... not alright.'

He crossed to the console and entered their destination. 'Hold on.'

She gripped the railings.

'Where are we?' she asked, once the shaking had subsided.

'A hospital.'

Sammy nodded. That was a good place to leave them.

A soft moan distracted her. She looked down at the sleepers and saw several of them stirring.

'Doctor? They're waking up.'

'Well that makes things easier.'

He ran around the console, flicking levers and pushing buttons, and everyone excepting him, Clara and Sammy began to fade.

'What's happening?'

'The TARDIS can sometimes dematerialise without its occupants.'

'Doctor?' Clara began to sit up, then groaned and flopped back down again. 'What happened?'

'Low oxygen levels. You passed out. But you're fine now. Everyone's fine.' He smiled down at her.

'And now,' he continued, returning to his infectious levels of energy, 'the only thing left is to take Sammy back home.'

Home? Yes, after so much, home was probably a good idea.

'Unless... you wanted to stay for a while?' asked Clara.

'Stay?'

'Travel. With us. She could, couldn't she, Doctor?'

'Of course.'

Stay. Travel. See everything and anything. It sounded... magnificent. But...

'Not today.'

'Not today. But we'll see you around?' asked the Doctor.

'Definitely.'

'Well then, see you soon, Sammy.'

* * *

Five days later, Sammy sat in her kitchen with a newspaper. **_Missing office workers turn up in hospital._** _Today, all missing persons who vanished without trace four days ago reappeared equally inexplicably within a hospital. All were suffering from oxygen deprivation but had sustained no other injuries. Those who have been interviewed so far all claim to have dreamed of an apocalyptic setting whilst unconscious._

She smiled to herself. We did it. It really happened, and it worked. And it wasn't over. Not even close.

See you soon, Doctor.


End file.
